March marks the beginning of Spring, often seen as a time of hope. Yet for Christians it also brings with it the beginning of Lent when we begin to think again about Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem and the cross. In Catholic tradition Lent has often been associated with fasting. People have seen themselves as mirroring Jesus as he fasted for 40 days in the wilderness. Some of this tradition was probably originally tied to necessity. In northern Europe where winter lingered even the sight of a few buds on the trees would not bring relief to the larders and stores which would have been rapidly becoming close to empty. On Pancake Tuesday you would use up the last of the fat to make pancakes before the harder weeks of Lenten fasting that would only come to an end on Easter Day. The season of Lent with its tradition of fasting probably made a virtue of necessity giving a religious focus to a time when people had to do everything they could to eek out their supplies. Today in a different world where by and large supermarkets have well stocked shelves we may not feel the need to fast in the same way. Clearly as Protestants we may not feel bound by such traditions. Yet there is a deeper and more profound idea behind these the practices of fasting or giving something up that we would do well to think about. The purpose of fasting was not just the giving up of rich food because there was none left, but it was seen as an opportunity to make space for God. To study the gospel stories of Jesus’s faithful journey to the cross, and to let the pattern of his life guide and influence ours. To let God’s ways and God’s values become our ways and our values. Unlike our ancestors our problem is not that we don’t have enough food but the injustice that this food is not equally available to all people. Our God who is God of justice calls on us to make justice flow like and ever flowing stream. How can we do this? Perhaps we could help to make sure that our local food banks are not empty but full this Lent. Perhaps we could collect more tins and packet and bring take them to your local food bank or may be your church is already making a collection of food for this purpose, and you can simply take the food there. Equally hunger is not simply a problem in Britain. There are many places like Gaza and Sudan where food supplies are precarious, and children go hungry. This would be a good time to collect your spare change together and then at Easter send a donation to the United Nations Children’s Organisation UNICEF. If we do these things, the season of Lent, will have a deeper meaning for us and be a source of blessing for our neighbours.
